What is smog and why is it dangerous?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Probably, in general terms, every modern schoolboy can answer what smog is. And if we ask him a similar question, then most likely we will hear something like this: "Smog is a haze over a city that occurs as a result of excessive air pollution from exhaust gases."

Is it really so? Let's try to find out the nature and causes of this type of precipitation from a scientific point of view.

What is smog? What is the nature of its occurrence?

The name of this phenomenon, which first appeared in London several decades ago, has purely English roots. It happened when adding two nouns "smoke", which translated into Russian means "smoke" and "fog" - "fog".

This type of precipitation is typical for regions with very polluted air. A feature is the presence in the atmosphere of a large percentage of foreign particles on which steam condenses. It is believed that the main culprits in the occurrence of smog are the abundance of vehicles on the roads and certain weather conditions.

Whatsuch a smog? Why is he dangerous?

Probably, hardly anyone will argue with the fact that living in cities for which smog has become an almost everyday phenomenon is risky and quite dangerous for human life. By the way, it is the bad ecology that doctors consider guilty of the pallor of the skin of local residents. The whole point is by no means a lack of vitamins, as many believe. In megacities, getting a tan is simply unrealistic, because. The smog, mixing with smoke and dust, is doing its best to keep the sun's energy from reaching the ground.

But that's not all. Probably, residents of megacities have noticed that recently our cities in winter are increasingly threatened by heavy snowfalls, and showers have become almost a common occurrence. And this is no coincidence. Due to the fact that the air contains a huge amount of various kinds of small solid particles, it forms many times more droplets or snowflakes than, say, in rural areas, which means more clouds and precipitation as a result.

Of course, it is hardly possible to protect yourself from all the costs of urbanization. Remember the recent smog in Moscow? It was during that period that the number of patients with complaints of profuse lacrimation, annoying barking cough and frequent breath holding increased in the hospitals of the capital. But that's not all. If harmful particles still enter our body, then their neutralization occurs in the liver, which means that the body is poisoned deep from the inside.

What is smog? His examples in the world

Unfortunately, in the modern world, whenIn many parts of the world, the current environmental situation leaves much to be desired, smog is not such a rare occurrence.

For example, this type of wet precipitation was characteristic of the capital of Great Britain and some other parts of this country about 100 years ago. And at that time, cars were not responsible for his education, as you understand. Around the 12th-13th century, in this state, residents heated their homes exclusively with coal, polluting the environment more and more. As you know, fogs for this area are not at all uncommon. Particles of combustible fuel mixed with heavy rainfall, forming a haze that was impenetrable and detrimental to the he alth of residents - London smog. This kind of heating was eventually banned by King Edward on pain of death.

Photochemical smog was first seen in Los Angeles. It, according to the point of view of modern scientists, is formed in the upper atmosphere only in the summer and under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. Industrial emissions, exposed to sunlight, form more and more and often more toxic products.